West End theatres buck the trend with record-breaking year

Last year was the best on record in the West End as theatre proved a refuge from mounting economic gloom.

While Broadway is floundering, figures out today from the Society of London Theatres (SOLT) show that attendances rose by 1 per cent on 2007, the previous best year, to 13,807,286. Box-office revenue also hit a record total of £480,563,674.

Just over nine million people went to see musicals last year. However, it was the old favourites that triumphed. Nearly every new production folded, leading to talk of a divided sector in which a few hit shows attract spectacular attendances while most others struggle to stay afloat.

The most successful show of the year in terms of paid admissions was the Queen tribute We Will Rock You, while Wicked and Billy Elliot did their best business over Christmas.
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New musicals, which accounted for two thirds of ticket sales in 2007, were a different story. Only Zorro, with music by the Gipsy Kings, bucked an inglorious trend.

Gone With the Wind, directed by Sir Trevor Nunn, never recovered from a critical panning and closed after 79 performances. Imagine This, a musical about the Holocaust, folded after a month. Marguerite, from the team that created Les Misérables, failed to capture the public's imagination, and Never Forget, the Take That musical, never took up its announced transfer from the Savoy into the Lyric and will be swiftly forgotten.

The £12.5million Lord of the Rings musical also admitted defeat and shut after 14 loss-making months.

This year already looks more promising, with the blockbuster revival of Oliver! up and running after taking an unprecedented £15million in advance bookings and the imminent arrival of two shows based on hit films -- Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and Sister Act.

Attendance at plays was 1 per cent down at slightly under 3 million. But they enjoyed a strong final quarter.

It was an impressive year for dance, opera, performances and entertainments, which rose by 5 per cent.

The figures relate to SOLT's 52 member theatres, which include all the commercial West End venues and the big grant-aided London theatres.

Theatre owners are keen to attribute the numbers to astute programming, but the weak pound and a hankering for escapism also played a part.

Richard Pulford, chief executive of SOLT, said that theatre, like cinema, often did well in a downturn. "I think people are more inclined to cherish those few hours when they can get lost in some other world," he said.

"Looking at the year ahead, I don't have any fears, although I think that the balance between caution and optimism is shifting towards caution. Obviously it depends on the economy -- if unemployment shoots up into the stratosphere, then there comes a certain point where you can't be immune to genuine economic difficulty.

"These figures are good news for the performing arts and for the UK economy. Theatregoers are out there spending money not just at our box offices but in hotels, restaurants and shops in the capital.

"2009 will undoubtedly be tough, but we start the year with the theatre capital of the world in good health. source>>>>

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